Finery Blog

Creating a Costume for a Fictional Character

How an author envisions her creation by Denise Robarge-Tanaka, First published in the November/December 2014 issue of Finery I write fantasy novels set in a faraway world of my own creation. My latest magical adventure, A Blighted Touch, is scheduled for release next spring. It’s about a mysterious chime that rings out a curse across the land. In one city, everyone feels […]

DETAIL

Beatnik Fashion

Not every member of the Beat Generation wore a beret by Kali Pappas, First published for the September/October 2014 issue of Finery As any fan of the Beat Generation writers will tell you, there’s a chasmic difference between the beret-wearing, bongo-beating “beatnik” of popular imagination and the people who created and lived the Beat philosophy in the 1940s, 50s, and […]

DETAIL

Steampunk Transformation

How I went from a historic costumer to a Steampunk and loved it by Kory Dean Doyle, First published in the July/August 2014 issue of Finery It has been said there are as many definitions of Steampunk as there are people who call themselves Steampunks. There are those who will tell you what it is and it isn’t as if […]

DETAIL

Paraphernalia for the Regency Man

Going beyond hat and gloves for the serious reenactor by Brian Cushing, First Published for the May/June 2014 issue of Finery While modern eyes view the Regency man as elegant and refined, contemporary conservative eyes looking on him would have perceived him as anything but. The wardrobe of some dandies like Beau Brummel were plain and rooted in those requiring […]

DETAIL

English, French, and Burgundian Women’s Bonnets in the 15th Century

One costumer’s exploration and recreation of historical headwear by Cynthia Barnes, First published for the March/April 2014 issue of Finery Before the heavily wired and beaded hoods so familiar from the portraits of Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, there were softer versions. As seen in manuscripts, these hoods adorned the heads of women of various social levels, be […]

DETAIL

Maschere a Venezia

What mask will you wear to the Bal di Carnivale? by Carol Wood, First published for the January/February 2014 issue of Finery Put off that mask of burning goldWith emerald eyes.Oh no, my dear, you make so boldTo find if hearts be wild and wise,And yet not cold.I would but find what’s there to find,Love or deceit.It was the mask […]

DETAIL

Bra Support Comes of Age: The history of the bra, 1920-1930 *

by Carol Wood, First published for the November/December 2013 issue of Finery “The history of the chest is as much about its suppression as it is about its augmentation” Harold Koda Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed Underwear and outerwear tag team change and for the brassiere this is no exception. Women’s under-fashion evolved from the constraining corset to the flapper’s […]

DETAIL

Accessories for the Regency Gentleman

by Chris Bertani, First published for the September/October 2013 issue of Finery The English Regency is a long period of time. Although technically it only covers the years when the future George IV ruled as a proxy for his father (from 1811 to 1820), the Regency period is often considered to encompass the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars as well […]

DETAIL

The Aunt Inez’s Dress Project

by Rose Litvin, First published for the September/October 2013 issue of Finery I don’t normally do 1920s. My body lends itself better to Victorian or Edwardian costuming, which happily coincides with my love of corsetry. Recently, however, I received a lavish wedding invitation. I knew that I had to do something fun and different as I read: “A theme celebration […]

DETAIL

Book review: Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns vol. 2, Jenny Tiramani and Susan North, editors

by Sahrye Cohen, First published for the July/August 2013 issue of Finery Book two of Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, edited by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani, continues the same meticulous documentation and fantastically detailed x-rays and photographs as book one. This volume contains an open gown, jackets, busks, linen bands and eighteen pages detailing the construction of a pair of […]

DETAIL